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	<title>Black Swan Management, LLC</title>
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	<description>Investments and Strategies for the Future of Business</description>
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		<title>Team Building and Multiple Intelligences</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/08/25/team-building-and-multiple-intelligences/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/08/25/team-building-and-multiple-intelligences/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:56:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alvin Quah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[team building]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/?p=4263</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The theory of Multiple Intelligences has greatly impacted the way children are being educated in the United States. How do we apply Dr. Howard Gardner's research on multiple intelligences to team building?]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Team building and multiple intelligences, to many people, have as much similarity as a company dinner and an i.q. test. if you are new to multiple intelligence, the following is a brief explanation:</p>
<p><strong>The Theory of Multiple Intelligences</strong></p>
<p>The Theory of Multiple Intelligences surfaced in 1983 when Dr. Howard Gardner&#8217;s renowned book titled, &#8220;Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences&#8221; was published. Within the next 10 years, educators world wide embraced the theory as a basis to identify talents in the children they work with.</p>
<p>Before that, most people perceived people to be intelligent if they score high in an I.Q. test or other psychometric tests, or are good with logical thinking, mathematical, musical and perhaps, linguistic skills. In his book, which has been described to have caused paradigm shifts, Dr. Gardner identified 7 distinct types of intelligence:</p>
<p>1. Linguistic Intelligence</p>
<p>The talent to learn and use languages, it includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically, using language as a primary means to remember things. Poets, writers and translators are people with high linguistic intelligence.</p>
<p>2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence</p>
<p>The capacity to analyse problems logically, performs mathematical operations, and scientifically investigate issues. Scientists and mathematicians are some examples of people with high logical-mathematical intelligence.</p>
<p>3. Musical Intelligence</p>
<p>Skills in the performing arts, composition, and appreciation of music. It also includes the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. Examples of people with high musical intelligence are: musicians, composers and singers.</p>
<p>4. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence</p>
<p>The use of one&#8217;s whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Some examples of people with high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are carpenters, seamstresses and chefs.</p>
<p>5. Spatial Intelligence</p>
<p>The potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas. Designers and architects are people with high spatial intelligence.</p>
<p>6. Interpersonal Intelligence</p>
<p>The capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. People with well developed interpersonal intelligence tend to work effectively with others. Some examples are educators, religious and political leaders and salespeople.</p>
<p>7. Intra-personal</p>
<p>The capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one&#8217;s feelings, fears and motivations. People with high intra-personal intelligence have a good idea of what they want to do in life, what they can and cannot do and when to get help. Some examples are high achievers and entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Brief History of team building</p>
<p>No one can be sure how the term &#8220;team building&#8221; was formed or when team building first started. The term &#8220;team building&#8221; is probably the combination of the words &#8220;team&#8221; and &#8220;building&#8221;, which means &#8220;building a team&#8221;. team building could have started as early as the 1930s, when Professor Elton Mayo&#8217;s research in The Hawthorne Experiments (1927 to 1932) concluded that the need for recognition, security and sense of belonging has a greater effect on workers&#8217; morale and productivity than other working conditions.</p>
<p>Today, team building can mean different things to different organisations. To some it may simply mean building cohesion among participants, while to others it may mean improving communication and sharing of information between departments.</p>
<p>So How Does Multiple Intelligence Help<br />
team building?</p>
<p>Multiple intelligence has been widely applied to children, particularly in the early detection of talents and gifts in children. So does the theory of multiple intelligence still hold true among adults? Are we able to apply the theory to adults? We began to ask these questions a few years ago when we were helping clients with their team building exercises.</p>
<p>Over the years, we have successfully conducted team building sessions for many corporations, using multiple intelligence in our games, to bring out strengths of different people in different situations, creating an environment to promote mutual respect, understanding and patience with adult participants.</p>
<p>Organisation may define team building in different ways, yet one very basic reason for team building is to get the participants to acknowledge the importance of teamwork and appreciate that people are different.</p>
<p>Dr. Sandy E. Kulkin, founder of Institute for The Motivational Living, Inc, USA (the world&#8217;s largest publisher of DISC personality profiling system) once said, &#8220;People are different, but they are predictably different&#8221;. Dr. Sandy is an expert in human behaviour and he develops courses, trains and certifies professional trainers in behavioural analysis for personal and business settings. He is a firm believer that in order for us to be better able to work with one another, we need to understand why people behave in the way they do and how they look at things differently from us.</p>
<p>Thus in our view, if we can help participants realise that people are different and see these differences as strengths in the other person, we will be able to help them learn to celebrate the differences, thereby creating mutual respect.</p>
<p>Understanding multiple intelligence helps broaden our perspectives of the people around us. In the context of team building, it uncovers the types of intelligence fellow team mates possess, which may never surface within the office setting. This brings about better understanding among the participants.</p>
<p>Exposing participants to multiple intelligence during team building also creates an environment in which participants share their knowledge in the type of intelligence that they possess with their fellow colleagues; it helps participants to be patient with one another as they take turns to learn from one another.</p>
<p>It can also be a humbling experience when we realise that there are other types of intelligence which may not be well developed in us. Introducing multiple intelligence during team building can also help participants become conscious that if we work as a team, we will be well-equipped to tackle different issues and problems as people who are more developed in different areas of intelligence tend to look at different aspects of an issue. These people will also be better at solving different challenges that the team face.</p>
<p>Here are some of Dr. Howard Gardner&#8217;s books on Multiple Intelligence:</p>
<p>o The Arts and Human Development (1973)</p>
<p>o Art, Mind, and Brain: A Cognitive Approach to Creativity (1982)</p>
<p>o Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence (1983)</p>
<p>o The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach (1991)</p>
<p>o Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (1993)</p>
<p>o Changing the World: A Framework for the Study of Creativity(1994)</p>
<p>o Intelligence: Multiple Perspectives (1996)</p>
<p>o Intelligence Reframed &#8211; Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century (1999)</p>
<p>The article was contributed by Alvin Quah, a certified behavioral analyst(in business consulting perspectives), who is registered with the Institute for The Motivational Living, Inc, USA. He can be contacted through the website: <a href="http://www.singaporeteambuilding.com/home.shtml" target="_new">Team Building Singapore</a></p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alvin_Quah">Alvin Quah</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Team-Building-and-Multiple-Intelligences&amp;id=332026">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
<a href="http://betterdollar.com/duty-tax/excise-tax-sin-taxes-or-luxury-taxes/">Excise Tax</a></p>
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		<title>Law Firm Internet Marketing An Executive Summary Using the Q&amp;A Format &#8211; Part I</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/08/18/law-firm-internet-marketing-an-executive-summary-using-the-qa-format-part-i/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/08/18/law-firm-internet-marketing-an-executive-summary-using-the-qa-format-part-i/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:55:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Henry Harlow</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[legal info]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/?p=4266</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Attorneys are vulnerable to getting poor results and paying high prices because they are not educated consumers when it comes to law firm Internet marketing.  Learn all you need to know to be on top of the Internet marketing game. This article is an executive briefing on Law Firm Internet Marketing in four parts.  This is Part 1.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>What do I need to know first about law firm Internet marketing?</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;In modern business, it is not the crook who is feared most, it is the honest man who doesn&#8217;t know what he is doing.&#8221;  Pablo Casals</p>
<p>There are tons of vendors out there who want to sell you websites and law firm Internet marketing services.  Most are honest people who simply don&#8217;t know what they are doing.  In many cases, they are attempting to sell you something that is overpriced and that won&#8217;t produce you any new clients at all, let alone good clients.  The attorneys I have worked with report to me that the whole Internet marketing process confuses them.  They don&#8217;t know who to believe.  Some have spent considerable sums already on websites with little or no results.  I aim to stop all that.  So keep reading.</p>
<p><strong>Do I need law firm Internet marketing?</strong></p>
<p>Yes.  According to Reuters News Services by 2007 there will be over nine million legal services searches done online each month.  Additionally, prospective clients and clients expect you to have at least a website or think you may be behind the times if you do not.  Finally, while the yellow pages are not a good attorney marketing vehicle today they are going away since people are searching the Internet and not going to the yellow pages.</p>
<p><strong>What is/is not law firm Internet marketing?</strong></p>
<p>Having a website is not law firm Internet marketing.  At a minimum you do need at least a &#8220;brochure website&#8221; of a few pages, however, that website is unlikely to get you new business and is definitely not Internet marketing.  The rest of this article (in four parts) is going to help you get clear on what Internet marketing is all about.</p>
<p><strong>Where does Internet marketing begin?</strong></p>
<p>Law firm Internet marketing begins with you becoming an educated consumer and then keyword research.  Researching your practice&#8217;s best keywords will tell us what words your prospective clients are using to search for legal services on search engines, what legal services your prospective clients are the most interested in, what your prospective client is thinking, how to attract these prospective clients to your site at the search engine instead of going to your competitors site, what your competitors are doing/not doing, what content to write for each of your top keywords (recommend writing a page each to at least the top 20 keywords), what are the words to use for PPC  law firm advertising and how to begin search engine optimization.  If you have not adequately completed keyword research using software tools like Wordtracker you have not done adequate keyword research and are likely to fail at your law firm Internet marketing.</p>
<p><strong>You mentioned, &#8220;&#8230;what content to write for each of your top keywords&#8230;&#8221;.  What are you talking about exactly?</strong></p>
<p>I am talking about what is known as the CTPM model of Internet marketing developed by Ken Evoy M.D. in 1997.  This model works because it is in total alignment with how the Internet works.  The C is the first part of the model and it stands for Content &#8211; create in demand content (you determine what is in demand from the keyword research).  The T is Traffic &#8211; attract targeted traffic.  The P is for pre-sell &#8211; pre-sell the targeted traffic (using such things as newsletters, RSS feeds, free downloads, e-books, auto responders, audio, video, and teleclasses).  The M is Monetize &#8211; this is where you convert these pre-sold prospective clients to clients easily.</p>
<p><strong>You mentioned, &#8220;&#8230;tools like Wordtracker&#8230;&#8221; with respect to keyword research in law firm Internet marketing.  What is Wordtracker?</strong></p>
<p>Wordtracker is a software tool that can be used to thoroughly research your keywords.  Wordtracker is at least arguably the best keyword research tool in the marketplace and there are others.  You can go to <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.Wordtracker.com" target="_new">http://www.Wordtracker.com</a> to get all the details.  Your vendor can use this tool easily and should use it for keyword research to put your law firm Internet marketing on the right track from the beginning if at all possible.</p>
<p><strong>You also mentioned &#8220;&#8230;how to begin search engine optimization.&#8221;  What is meant by search engine optimization (SEO) and exactly what is it and how does it fit into law firm Internet marketing?</strong></p>
<p>There is no mystery in SEO in particular and law firm Internet marketing in general so don&#8217;t let anyone bamboozle you on that one.  As I said earlier SEO begins with appropriate keyword research.  If you have not done that you are dead in the water since this is the foundation of everything that comes after in law firm Internet marketing.  The next step is the &#8220;C&#8221; or content mentioned earlier in the CTPM model.  You will need to write &#8220;keyword optimized&#8221; content to each of your top 20 keywords or another way to say this is writing your content in the way that search engines want to see it so they rank you higher than your competitors.  Your content needs to fit together in a site plan (the term site plan refers to in what order your pages will appear and how they link to one another) that has an appropriate pyramid type structure.  This pyramid type structure includes your home page (the peak of the pyramid) themed keyword phrase being supported by all the tier two pages (the next layer of the pyramid) and their tier three pages (usually the base of your pyramid although you could go deeper) support them resulting in higher rankings for all of your pages.  There are some technical aspects to SEO as well like the use of clean HTML, heading text, meta tags, alt tags, site map, etc., however, mercifully I won&#8217;t go into those since they should be known to your technical person.  The bottom line is put nothing in the way of the search engines spiders (spiders are sent out from the search engine to &#8220;read&#8221; the sites on the Internet) being able to &#8220;read&#8221; your site like fancy flash pages get in the way big time for instance.   To know more in depth about keyword optimization you can go to Wordtracker.com where they have a really fine Keyword Research Guide if you want to know more of the details.  All of what I just told you is known as &#8220;on site optimization&#8221; strategies for law firm Internet marketing.  There is also &#8220;off site&#8221; optimization as well involved in SEO.  Off site optimization means getting one-way links from high-ranking pages of other sites that are related to your top 20 keywords (there we are again with that keyword research being vital) that link to your site.  Search engines see these links like a &#8220;vote&#8221; for your site.  The more high quality &#8220;votes&#8221; you have the higher they will rank your site.  The term &#8220;link popularity&#8221; is used to describe this process in law firm Internet marketing.  The royal road to high quality links is having (here he goes again) keyword researched and keyword optimized quality content on your website.  You get these links from website directories, article directories, online forums, press releases, etc.  I left out reciprocal links because most SEO authorities think they are no longer worth the effort since they are difficult to get and don&#8217;t really contribute much (or can even hurt) to your page ranking.</p>
<p>We have completed the first part of law firm Internet marketing at this point.  In part two we will go into Google Page Ranking, dealing with your competitors, RSS, the factors surrounding costs of law firm Internet marketing and more.  I am committed to you being a master of law firm Internet marketing at least to the point you will get new clients from your efforts and not get taken to the cleaners by vendors who may not know any better.</p>
<p>You can download free now the 125 page Report titled &#8220;31 Proven Law Firm Marketing Strategies&#8221; by Henry Harlow and much more.  You can increase your income; reduce your work hours as you serve your clients better than ever &#8211; guaranteed. <a href="http://www.Law-Firm-Marketing-Coach.com" target="_new">http://www.Law-Firm-Marketing-Coach.com</a></p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Henry_Harlow">Henry Harlow</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Law-Firm-Internet-Marketing-An-Executive-Summary-Using-the-QandA-Format---Part-I&amp;id=283878">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
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		<title>Build Your Wealth With Small Investments</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/08/11/build-your-wealth-with-small-investments/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/08/11/build-your-wealth-with-small-investments/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:54:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mika Hamilton</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/?p=4267</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Learn all you can about wealth building before you start investing in any kind of high-risk stock. You may even want to seek advice from a professional.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When you want to start building your wealth, it will probably need to be with small investments. This is a great way to get started in wealth building but just like with large investments, money can easily be lost. This means that you will need to investigate carefully what you are doing and how you are going to go about it. Here are some tips to help you to start building your wealth with small investments.</p>
<p>Develop A Strategy</p>
<p>Before you start to look for opportunities, you may want to divide up your available money into three or more segments. This will allow you to make more than one investment simultaneously, and it will give you other money, too, just in case the first investment should tie up your money for a longer period of time than you had thought. You could also use some of it for short-term investments, and other money for longer-term investments.</p>
<p>High Risk or Low Risk?</p>
<p>You will also need to decide what your risk factor is going to be for each segment of your money, too. For instance, you may use some of it for lower risk investments that will keep that portion of your money relatively safe. Another portion of your money could be used for high-risk investments, but you will need to be willing to possibly lose this money if you do. Other money may be designated for long term investments, and some just for short-term investments.</p>
<p>Look For Opportunities</p>
<p>Learn all you can about wealth building before you start investing in any kind of high-risk stock. You may even want to seek advice from a professional. Long term investments, which should be the money that you cannot afford to lose, you should invest in stable instruments like bonds, mutual funds, or CD&#8217;s. These do provide a lower interest rate, but they are solid.</p>
<p>Investing in the stock market is an idea. Stay away from the high-risk stocks until you know what you are doing, or it could lead to quick losses. Once you are comfortable, you can expand your investments into the short-term more profitable stocks. Forex may be another option. Either one will not take a lot of money to get started, just be sure to shop around for brokers, since prices vary.</p>
<p>Alternative Investing</p>
<p>Instead of thinking only about the stock market or more traditional methods, don&#8217;t forget about investing in things that will increase in value, as well. This usually includes assets that you can hold such as gold, coins, stamps, art, antiques, cars, and many more. Collections of various things, such as memorabilia of some kind, can also provide you with an investment of increasing value. If you need ideas for this type of investment, simply go to eBay and see what some of the high-ticket items are.</p>
<p>These items, as well as investing in new businesses, could provide you with relatively safe investments as long as they are protected. Some of them can also be sold easily for liquidity.</p>
<p>To learn more about the new wave of option investing available to personal investors visit <a href="http://www.optiontradersjournal.com" target="_new">http://www.optiontradersjournal.com</a> where you will find a range of free videos, e-books and reports to help you  <a href="http://www.optiontradersjournal.com" target="_new">learn option trading</a> to help you get started in this exciting investment field.</p>
<p>Investment webmasters or publishers, please feel free to use this article provided this reference is included and all links remain active.</p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mika_Hamilton">Mika Hamilton</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Build-Your-Wealth-With-Small-Investments&amp;id=979763">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
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		<title>Building An Income With Affiliate Programs</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/07/05/building-an-income-with-affiliate-programs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/07/05/building-an-income-with-affiliate-programs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:36:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby Ryatt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[building income]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[income]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strategies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/?p=373</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Type in the words "Affiliate Programs" into any search engine and your results will display thousands upon thousands of pages that offer work at home affiliate programs. How on earth is anyone supposed to understand what to do with that? 	Of course just like anything else it is possible to narrow down your searches for affiliate programs so that you only have about three thousand pages of results to meander through]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Type in the words Affiliate Programs into any search engine and your results will display thousands upon thousands of pages that offer work at home affiliate programs. How on earth is anyone supposed to understand what to do with that?</p>
<p>Of course just like anything else it is possible to narrow down your searches for affiliate programs so that you only have about three thousand pages of results to meander through. Some people go with the basic principle that if they are on top then it must be a good company. This is not entirely true. It may be a good company. It may be a great company or even the best company. They may very well also be a terrible company or an affiliate scam. Anyone with enough money to pay for the top slot will get the top slot. There is no integrity test to determine who is entitled to the top spots. They are purchased.</p>
<p>Affiliate marketing has experienced a tremendous market boom in the last few years, and affiliate marketing is making very wealthy individuals all over the world from the benefits of their programs. Affiliate marketing can be very lucrative for those who find the right program, understand whats involved, and have the wherewithal to roll up their sleeves and get to work.</p>
<p>Affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick plan. Get rich quick plans seldom work. I would say never, but occasionally someone with the absolute perfect concept hits the market as the absolute perfect time and they do become overnight financial tycoons. However, relying on a get rich quick plan almost always gets people further into the poorhouse with nearly nothing to show for their efforts. Fortunately, affiliate programs are not get rich quick plans.</p>
<p>A get rich quick plan requires a lot of luck. In fact, a get rich quick plan is mostly luck. Affiliate marketing requires knowledge, the application of that knowledge, and of course, a persistent and dedicated effort. While get rich quick plans may seem like more fun, they dont work, and affiliate marketing does. Improve Building An Income With Affiliate Programs chances.</p>
<p>Nearly every form of business website offers an affiliate program. If they are selling something, they like to sell more without paying for advertising costs, so they lease out their name and their products and they call you an affiliate. The word affiliate is different from associate, and the difference it makes in business is significant. An associate is someone who you do business with, and while they may enhance your paycheck in some fashion, your paycheck and their business are not necessarily interconnected. An affiliate is someone who does part of your business for you, and therefore your paycheck is directly affected by their efforts. Affiliate programs are basically packages that allow you to become a subcontractor of marketing and advertising for that business and they in turn will pay you a commission for your efforts.</p>
<p>The Affiliate Business Plan</p>
<p>Whether you already understand the basic concepts of internet marketing or you are just now learning them, joining an affiliate program requires an affiliate business plan. An effective affiliate business plan consists of numerous aspects, some which can only be determined by you and the business you have chosen. Some aspects of an effective affiliate business plan are somewhat universal. A chosen method or methods of advertising is essential, and it is typically best to know what has worked for others and why. An effective affiliate business plan includes room for learning, typically through a mentor or an online service provided through your affiliate program of choice. Many affiliate programs will lay out an affiliate business plan for you. Only you can determine if this is an affiliate business plan that works for you or not.</p>
<p>An appropriate affiliate business plan needs to be practical. Donating  of your monthly income to advertising in hopes that you will have tons of traffic to your website and you will quadruple your investment is not very practical. Appropriating a percentage of your weekly or bi-weekly income to dedicate it to your affiliate business plan is more practical. Remember this is not a get rich plan, it is a business plan.</p>
<p>If you are looking atBuilding An Income With Affiliate Programs then you first need a plan. An affiliate business plan requires constant education. Building online businesses is not something that everyone can do with just the knowledge they were born with, most people need a little guidance along the way. Most affiliate programs include mentors, but often it is necessary to go in search of your own education, as mentors are people just like you who are trying to build an affiliate business. This is good, because you are all motivated, but often their learning curve becomes your learning curve. It is possible to become smarter than your mentor.</p>
<p>One of the most comprehensive affiliate marketing websites on the internet today is theaffiliatepit. This is the place to land if you are looking to outperform your mentor, and his mentor, and of course their mentor as well. The best laid affiliate marketing plan needs to be subsidized heavily with self education. Self education can mean something as simple as reading the well researched articles that appear on affiliatepit or finding what separates one affiliate business from another. Regardless of which area of internet affiliate marketing you need to educate yourself about, stop by affiliatepit for the information that can set you far ahead of the pack.</p>
<p>The final main ingredients to a successful affiliate business plan are integrity, patience, endurance, creativity, and longevity. Since we have already established that we are not dealing with a get rich quick plan, but we are building an online income from an affiliate business plan, success is not going to strike overnight. A little patience and persistence can change your life faster than you think. In fact, a little patience and persistence can change your life in a matter of months, if you are consistent.</p>
<p>People in general are not very patient creatures. It is not uncommon to develop a solid affiliate business plan and set it into motion and go two or three weeks and begin to doubt your eventual success. Because it can take a few weeks to really get a good affiliate business plan rolling, in that time it can easy to become distracted with three other businesses and decide that really this one over here looks much better anyway. If you never pick something and dedicate yourself to making it successful, you will never be successful. That is why we develop affiliate business plans that are practical. If we make our affiliate business plan something we can follow, we are less likely to get frustrated or distracted and move on to the next big plan. If you give up on the first one so easily, what prevents you from giving up on all of them so easily?</p>
<p>You have to leave behind the get rich quick plan mentality and focus on the small steps that will add up to your success. The get rich quick plan mentality keeps a person flitting about from one great plan to another, but never investing themselves in any one given plan for more than a week or two in hopes of overnight riches. You want long term income, not a quick burst of cash that you can blow through a little over a month of frivolous spending. Long term and solid effort that follows a long term and solid affiliate business plan creates the income and the freedom that you are so desperately in search of. These things simply do not happen by themselves with no dedicated effort or without true commitment. Otherwise, everyone in the world would have a successful affiliate marketing business and we could shut down welfare programs and state assistance and college loan programs. They take effort, and dedication, and the number on killer of well thought out affiliate business plans is the ability to become distracted.</p>
<p>Affiliate Market Research</p>
<p>Remember that affiliate businesses are really the borrowing of someone elses name and product, and often even their affiliate business plan. Most of these companies have done quite a bit of affiliate market research on their own in an effort to discern the hottest programs and the best products. This shouldnt deter you from doing your own affiliate market research. This of course can be easier said than done, as the search engine positions can be purchased. However, affiliate market research consists of more than just typing in a few words in a search engine. Look deeper into the companies and the products available, as well as their payment plans and schedules.</p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bobby_Ryatt">Bobby Ryatt</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Building-An-Income-With-Affiliate-Programs&amp;id=439994">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
Provided by: <a href="http://digitalcameratimes.com/">Digital Camera News</a></p>
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		<title>Internet Business Gurus; List Building From The Start &#8211; Learn The Basic Keys To A Profitable List</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/29/internet-business-gurus-list-building-from-the-start-learn-the-basic-keys-to-a-profitable-list/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/29/internet-business-gurus-list-building-from-the-start-learn-the-basic-keys-to-a-profitable-list/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:35:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Newsh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment gurus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online wealth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stocks]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/?p=374</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A must for the professional Internet marketer is knowing how to build a business list of clients or subscribers that you can mail your affiliate program, product or service. First you need to Build a Business List of people that want or buy stuff already. You have to ask the right questions when your Building a Business List.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A must for the professional Internet marketer is knowing how to build a business list of clients or subscribers that you can mail your affiliate program, product or service.</p>
<p>First you need to Build a Business List of people that want or buy stuff already. You have to ask the right questions when your Building a Business List. 1) Are they buying stuff now? 2) Are there lots of people spending money to reach them? (type the product or service in Google and see who is advertising on the right side). These are ads that people are paying Goggle to run. If you want to sell a how to book &#8221; How to play better golf a-z&#8221; you would Google &#8220;How to play better golf a-z&#8221; then look on the right side and see who&#8217;s selling that product. You want to know that purple are spending money to sell the product you want to sell. This will give a you good Idea if your product is one the people are buying now and start Building a Business List. 3 Use ClickBank.com to determine if the market is buying long term and not a fade.</p>
<p>We tested hundreds of Business List Building systems some are good most are old and poor programming. Kevin Sipe who is a SEO expert has his new system that just came out.   program makes it easy to make Capture Pages. Type in SEO Capture Pages on a Google search and look for yourself also search under SEO web-site designing.</p>
<p>Here is the Ugly Truth about Business List Building, some people will not buy it (your products- service). Some may never buy your stuff. But almost all of them will buy something at some other time. 1) Treat your list Right, even small lists, they will make you money if you treat them with Respect. Even if you stop Building a Business list if they are a Quality list you can earn from them for years, because they like and respect you as a friend and an Authoritative figure.. 2) Only mail your list cool stuff and things that you would like to receive in your email box. Your list is already getting bombarded with junk mail they don&#8217;t want. You want to send them emails that they enjoy opening because your always giving something of Value to them.</p>
<p>OK here is the Big Secret Formula for List Building: 1) Find something that will help your market and will be of Value to your people. 2) You want to offer your list something for free in Exchange for their email address. 3) Do that A LOT! That is List Building 101.</p>
<p>Here are the Mechanics of How Business List Building Works. Send Traffic to your Webpages or Capture page. Offer the Free thing to get their email address and then send them to another page about their free stuff. Some will join your Business list and some will buy your stuff. It&#8217;s that Easy.<br />
Here are 4 Big questions that pop up. 1) How do I get Traffic? The big question.. 2) What do I give away? 3) How do I turn Leads Into Buyers&#8221; 4) How do I set all the stuff up?</p>
<p>First question Traffic: You either buy it or get it from JV partners. The big boys or the Guru Business List Builders just buy their traffic. Google adwords &#8211; Yahoo paid search &#8211; Banners &#8211; CPM mail drops. 1.) Traffic turns into leads 2.) The leads turn into buyers 3.) The buyers turn into repeat buyers.</p>
<p>When Building a Business List you need to make more money then you spend on leads, so let&#8217;s do the Math. 1.) If you spend 10 cents per visitor and you get 100 visitors to you Web Page or Capture Page it will cost you $100.00. 2.) If your Opt In page (Capture Page) converts at 20% (which is about normal for &#8220;Cold Traffic&#8221; you&#8217;d end up with 200 leads from that original 1000 visitors (Traffic). That&#8217;s 50 cents a lead per subscriber. Here is the Cool part. OK lets say you convert only 3% of your leads into Buyers in the 1st week of having them. 200 x 3% = 6 sales. If your selling something for $97.00 you would make $582.00. Take out the $100 you spent for traffic and your net is $482.00 minus what you product cost? The Best part is the you still have the list or leads so now you can offer them other cool stuff. There are still 196 people that have not bought anything. Believe me they are as good as money in the Bank. The Internet Millionaire guy that taught me Business List Building made over $1,000,000 on one of his lists of just over 7,000 subscribers the last 2 years. What&#8217;s Great is that you already have a net profit from having 6 people buy in the first week you started Building your Business List. Now the list you built is all pure profit when you mail these people in the future with other cool products and services.</p>
<p>Are you in a MLM or Network Marketing company? List Building will help your recruiting big time. One Online marketer I know is very good at List Building. She loves MLM and Internet businesses and by the way she buys most of her leads like I explained above. In one company last year she brought in over 800 personal sign-ups by herself. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m going to Teach everyone to do. So now you can run with the Big Hitter List Builders and blow right passed them.</p>
<p>Next Big Question is &#8220;What do I give away? 1.) The Old Stand by Free Reports. 2.) Down-loadable Audios. 3.) Videos are really hot. 4.) As long as its something your prospects can benefit from and get Value for, your Good.</p>
<p>Next How do I turn People into Buyers? This is what nobody really teaches in Business List Building. What people even most Gurus don&#8217;t realize is the money isn&#8217;t really in the list. It&#8217;s in the Relationships with your list! Once you Create a Great Relationship with your list, your set for Life!<br />
Simple Steps: Rise above the Noise and Be Different. No Hype Stand up and Step up. Give Excellent Value to your list or subscribers. Be a strait shooter (NO Bull) Help people decide they want your stuff instead of convincing them. Use audios, videos, teleseminars and email to communicate with your list.</p>
<p>Why This Works: You and I primarily Trust two people. A friend or a person of Authority. This is Human Nature and never has and never will change. The system I&#8217;m going to teach you does both.<br />
In the next segment of Business List Building 101 we will show you how to set up Auto responders for follow up messages to your list. Also we will show you how to build Capture Pages with our system, it is so easy you will be a pro instantly.</p>
<p>Well this should give you a good start to building your list. I believe that if you do what we tell you to do and stick to it you will be the best marketer you can be. And that&#8217;s all you can ask for in the crazy thing called Life. Smile your on your way. And no your not going to learn everything in one day. So relax and work day to day this is called your DMO or Daily Method of Operation.</p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Newsh">Dan Newsh</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Business-Gurus-and-List-Building-From-The-Start---Learn-The-Basic-Keys-To-A-Profitable-List&amp;id=968950">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
Provided by: <a href="http://digitalcameratimes.com/">Digital Camera Information</a></p>
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		<title>Utah Internet Marketing &#8211; Outsource or In-house?</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/22/utah-internet-marketing-outsource-or-in-house/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/22/utah-internet-marketing-outsource-or-in-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:33:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marci Lynn Crane</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[investment strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business strategy]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/?p=375</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wondering whether you should outsource your online marketing projects to a Utah Internet Marketing company? Perhaps you would prefer to keep your campaign in-house? Learn more about the essentials of outsourcing and the benefits of in-house marketing.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you live in the beehive state or have recently visited Utah for the first time you might have noticed a youthful quality within the state.  In Utah-especially in college towns-there is an entrepreneurial energy that keeps new businesses (and the experienced) in the hot skillet of competition.</p>
<p>Utah Internet Marketing: The Competition is <em>Hot</em></p>
<p>Online virtual reality is becoming just as competitive or more so than it&#8217;s offline counterparts.  Utah business men and women are competing for top rankings and widespread advertisement campaigns.  Utah Internet marketing campaigns are tough competition especially since online virtual mediums are in an almost constant state of change.</p>
<p>If you are a Utah business owner, it can be difficult to decide <em>which</em> Utah Internet Marketing company is the <em>best</em> Internet marketing company for your particular needs or whether or not you should consider an <em>in-house</em> Utah Internet Marketing option instead.  This article is designed to help provide you with the information you need to make a more educated decision.</p>
<p>Looking to Outsource Utah Internet Marketing Services?</p>
<p>If you decide that you want to outsource your Internet marketing campaign to a Utah Internet marketing company, it&#8217;s going to be more difficult to keep tabs on your company&#8217;s Internet marketing projects.  So&#8230;&#8230;.when you go looking for a <em>proactive</em> Utah Internet marketing company you need to make sure you have the right information and the right people underway in your own company first.</p>
<p>Make sure your company is ready for outsourced Internet Marketing executing the following steps:</p>
<ol>
<li>Find someone within your own company who can manage and consistently check up on the progression of your Internet Marketing campaign.  Essentially, this marketing person doesn&#8217;t have to be a full time marketing employee.  An energetic and ambitious employee who normally works in research, HR, as a consultant, in sales or even in accounting might have a hidden flair for marketing and may enjoy watching, tracking and reporting the progress of the campaign.  He or she <em>must</em> spend a good portion of his or her working hours keeping in touch with Internet marketing employees, staying abreast of SEO and PPC projects, contributing to blogs and taking time to approve SEO content.  This might seem like an obvious expedient but but you might be surprised how many companies essentially leave their marketing process in the hands of a Utah Internet marketing company of which they know very little.  This can damage a campaign even if the Internet marketing company in question is conscientious of providing the services they are contracted to provide.  Simply put, almost any Internet marketing company is likely to grease the squeaky client wheels and if you aren&#8217;t calling, checking up, asking questions and confirming launch dates, it&#8217;s very likely that your company will receive second rate services.</li>
<li>Decide exactly what it is that you want your website to accomplish.  Whether you want visitors to buy products, make inquiries or submit information via your website, you need to know your goals and the respective priorities that will help you reach them.</li>
<li>Decide how much you want to spend.  Your budget will determine the range of prospective Utah Internet marketing companies you can work with.  Spending more will not necessarily get you better service or results so it is important that you know how much you want to spend.  That way, you can select the best Utah Internet marketing company within your price range without getting unduly distracted.</li>
</ol>
<p>Start Looking for a Utah Internet Marketing Firm</p>
<p>Once your own company is prepared to invest in an Internet marketing campaign, it is important to look for a Utah Internet marketing firm that has the following five characteristics1:</p>
<ol>
<li>The Utah Internet marketing company you select should be able to promise you something. Internet marketing sales persons might be quick to say that Internet marketing companies can never promise any thing since so many Internet marketing services are variable in nature.  In a sense they are correct, but if they can&#8217;t give you a promise of <em>generalized</em> progress over a given amount of time, it isn&#8217;t likely that they are trying hard enough to win your patronage.</li>
<li>Does their site rank well? This is important since they are after all an <em>Internet</em> marketing company.  Ask them which keyword phrases they rank well for and take a look at their online material.  Their sales persons may be slick and polished but if their website is less than helpful it&#8217;s not likely that you have found the Utah Internet Marketing company that is going to do your website the most good.</li>
<li>If a company can&#8217;t guarantee a certain amount of satisfaction (defined satisfaction) then forget it and move on to another company.</li>
<li>Choose a company that is willing to explain their services to you.  Some companies enter the world of Internet marketing without understanding what exactly their Internet marketing firm will do to recruit links for their site.  Not knowing the basics can get your company in trouble.</li>
<li>Look for a company that prides themselves on their market research capabilities.</li>
</ol>
<p>In-House Utah Internet Marketing</p>
<p>If you like getting your own hands in the action then perhaps in-house Internet marketing is the game you should play.  In-house marketing is beneficial in the sense that you have complete control of your Internet marketing process.  It also means that when things get tight you can suspend your campaign and not be penalized for late payments.</p>
<p>Whether you go in-house or take the route of outsourcing, investing in Utah Internet marketing is important for almost every kind of Utah business.</p>
<p>1 The five characteristics are taken from the following online article:<br />
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.salemglobal.com/website-marketing-choosing-seo-firm.php" target="_new">http://www.salemglobal.com/website-marketing-choosing-seo-firm.php</a></p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marci_Lynn_Crane">Marci Lynn Crane</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Utah-Internet-Marketing---Outsource-or-In-house?&amp;id=772453">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
Provided by: <a href="http://hippestphone.com/">Latest trends in mobile phone</a></p>
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		<title>Finding Network Marketing Leads</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/15/finding-network-marketing-leads/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/15/finding-network-marketing-leads/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:31:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rolf Rasmusson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[network marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strategies]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/?p=365</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Getting a network marketing lead is not an easy process and involves a lot of work. However you can achieve network marketing success by ...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Getting a network marketing lead.</p>
<p>Getting a network marketing lead is not an easy process and involves a lot of work. However you can achieve network marketing success by following a few simple but detailed instructions and using network marketing tools. Network marketing success involves not only getting a lead but also keeping the lead and developing a good business relationship thats the key to network marketing success.</p>
<p>Network marketing success: what steps to take</p>
<p>If you want to achieve the network marketing success, especially while doing your network marketing online, you will need to use various network marketing tools. One of the network marketing tools that are available to you is the network marketing prospecting website. The network marketing prospecting website will allow you to find leads and clients and build your marketing campaign.A Network marketing prospecting website can also post the valuable information to your prospective clients. As you can see, the network marketing prospecting website is one of the key network marketing tools that will bring you network marketing success.</p>
<p>You should also study the network marketing tools that are being used by other networkers. This can also contribute to your network marketing success since you will be able to find valuable information. Go through the network marketing prospecting website of your competitor(s),research various network marketing tools that are available online, hold on to this valuable information and you are on your way to network marketing success.</p>
<p>There are things besides network marketing prospecting website and network marketing tools that can contribute you your network marketing success, but you should start with the network marketing prospecting website and network marketing tools and then move on to other marketing ideas.</p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rolf_Rasmusson">Rolf Rasmusson</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Finding-Network-Marketing-Leads&amp;id=14084">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
Provided by: <a href="http://betterdollar.com/duty-tax/duty/">Import duty tariff</a></p>
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		<title>The Real Estate Sector</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/05/the-real-estate-sector/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/06/05/the-real-estate-sector/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:18:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Manish Marwah</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strategies]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Engulfing the period of stagnation, the evolution of Indian real estate sector has been phenomenal, impelled by, growing economy, conducive demographics and liberalized foreign direct investment regime. However, now this unceasing phenomenon of real estate sector has started to exhibit the signs of contraction.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Boom &amp; Bust of Indian Real Estate Sector</strong></p>
<p>Engulfing the period of stagnation, the evolution of Indian real estate sector has been phenomenal, impelled by, growing economy, conducive demographics and liberalized foreign direct investment regime. However, now this unceasing phenomenon of real estate sector has started to exhibit the signs of contraction.</p>
<p>What can be the reasons of such a trend in this sector and what future course it will take? This article tries to find answers to these questions&#8230;</p>
<p>Overview of Indian real estate sector</p>
<p>Since 2004-05 Indian reality sector has tremendous growth. Registering a growth rate of, 35 per cent the realty sector is estimated to be worth US$ 15 billion and anticipated to grow at the rate of 30 per cent annually over the next decade, attracting foreign investments worth US$ 30 billion, with a number of IT parks and residential townships being constructed across-India.</p>
<p>The term real estate covers residential housing, commercial offices and trading spaces such as theaters, hotels and restaurants, retail outlets, industrial buildings such as factories and government buildings. Real estate involves purchase sale and development of land, residential and non-residential buildings. The activities of real estate sector embrace the hosing and construction sector also.</p>
<p>The sector accounts for major source of employment generation in the country, being the second largest employer, next to agriculture. The sector has backward and forward linkages with about 250 ancilary industries such as cement, brick,steel, building material etc.</p>
<p>Therefore a unit increase in expenditure of this sector have multiplier effect and capacity to generate income as high as five times.</p>
<p>All-round emergence</p>
<p>In real estate sector major component comprises of housing which accounts for 80% and is growing at the rate of 35%. Remainder consist of commercial segments office, shopping malls, hotels and hospitals.</p>
<p>Housing units: With the Indian economy surging at the rate of 9 % accompanied by rising incomes levels of middle class, growing nuclear families, low interest rates, modern approach towards homeownership and change in the attitude of young working class in terms of from save and buy to buy and repay having contributed towards soaring housing demand.</p>
<p>Earlier cost of houses used to be in multiple of nearly 20 times the annual income of the buyers, whereas today multiple is less than 4.5 times.</p>
<p>According to 11th five year plan, the housing shortage on 2007 was 24.71 million and total requirement of housing during (2007-2012) will be 26.53 million. The total fund requirement in the urban housing sector for 11th five year plan is estimated to be Rs 361318 crores.<br />
The summary of investment requirements for XI plan is indicated in following table</p>
<p>SCENARIO	Investment requirement<br />
Housing shortage at the beginning of the XI plan period	147195.0<br />
New additions to the housing stock during the XI plan period including the additional housing shortage during the plan period	214123.1<br />
Total housing requirement for the plan period	361318.1</p>
<p>Office premises: rapid growth of Indian economy, simultaneously also have deluging effect on the demand of commercial property to help to meet the needs of business. Growth in commercial office space requirement is led by the burgeoning outsourcing and information technology (IT) industry and organised retail. For example, IT and ITES alone is estimated to require 150 million sqft across urban India by 2010. Similarly, the organised retail industry is likely to require an additional 220 million sqft by 2010.</p>
<p>Shopping malls: over the past ten years urbanization has upsurge at the CAGR of 2%. With the growth of service sector which has not only pushed up the disposable incomes of urban population but has also become more brand conscious. If we go by numbers Indian retail industry is estimated to be about US $ 350 bn and forecast to be double by 2015.</p>
<p>Thus rosining income levels and changing perception towards branded goods will lead to higher demand for shopping mall space, encompassing strong growth prospects in mall development activities.</p>
<p>Multiplexes: another growth driver for real-estate sector is growing demand for multiplexes. The higher growth can be witnessed due to following factors:</p>
<p>1.	Multiplexes comprises of 250-400 seats per screen as against 800-1000 seats in a single screen theater, which give multiplex owners additional advantage, enabling them to optimize capacity utilization.</p>
<p>2.	Apart from these non-ticket revenues like food and beverages and the leasing of excess space to retailer provides excess revenues to theatre developers.</p>
<p>Hotels/Resorts: as already mentioned above that rising major boom in real estate sector is due to rising incomes of middle class. Therefore with increase in income propensity to spend part of their income on tours and travels is also going up, which in turn leads to higher demand for hotels and resorts across the country. Apart from this India is also emerging as major destination for global tourism in India which is pushing up the demand hotels/resorts.<br />
Path set by the government</p>
<p>The sector gained momentum after going through a decade of stagnation due to initiatives taken by Indian government. The government has introduced many progressive reform measures to unveil the potential of the sector and also to meet increasing demand levels.</p>
<p>100% FDI permitted in all reality projects through automatic route.<br />
In case of integrated townships, the minimum area to be developed has been brought down to 25 acres from 100 acres.<br />
Urban land ceiling and regulation act has been abolished by large number of states.<br />
Legislation of special economic zones act.<br />
Full repatriation of original investment after 3 years.<br />
51% FDI allowed in single brand retail outlets and 100 % in cash and carry through the automatic route.</p>
<p>There fore all the above factors can be attributed towards such a phenomenal growth of this sector. With significant growing and investment opportunities emerging in this industry, Indian reality sector turned out to be a potential goldmine for many international investors. Currently, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the sector are estimated to be between US$ 5 billion and US$ 5.50 billion.</p>
<p>Top most real estate investors in the foray</p>
<p>Investors profile</p>
<p>The two most active segments are high networth individuals and financial institutions. Both these segments are particularly active in commercial real estate. While financial institutions like HDFC and ICICI show high preference for commercial investment,the high net worth individuals show interest in investing in residential as well as commercial properties.</p>
<p>Apart from these, the third most important category is NRI ( non-resident Indians). They mostly invest in residential properties than commercial properties. Emotional attachment to native land could be reasons for their investment. And moreover the necessary documentation and formalities for purchasing immovable properties except agricultural and plantation properties are quite simple. Therefore NRI&#8217;s are showing greater interest for investing in Indian reality sector.</p>
<p><strong>MAJOR INVESTORS</strong></p>
<p>Emmar properties, of Dubai one of the largest listed real estate developer in the world has tied up with Delhi based MGF developments to for largest FDI investment in Indian reality sector for mall and other facilities in Gurgaon.</p>
<p>Dlf India&#8217;s leading real estate developer and UK &#8216;s famous Laing O Rourke (LOR) has joined hands for participation in airport modernization and infrastructure projects.</p>
<p>A huge investment was made by Vancouver based Royal Indian raj international cooperation in a single real estate project named royal garden city in Bangalore over period of 10 years. The retail value of project was estimated to be around $ 8.9 billion.</p>
<p>Indiabulls real estate development has entered into agreement with dev property development, a company incorporated in Isle of Man, whereby dev got subscription to new shares and also minority shareholding the company. But in recent developments indiabulls have acquired entire stake in dev property development in a 138 million-pound sterling (10.9 billion ruppees) share-swap deal.</p>
<p>Apart from this real estate developments opens up opportunity for associated fields like home loans and insurance. A number of global have shown interest in this sector. This include companies like Cesma International from Singapore, American International Group Inc (AIG), High Point Rendel of the UK, Colony Capital and Brack Capital of the US, and Lee Kim Tah Holdings to name a few.<br />
Following are names of some of the companies who have invested in India</p>
<p>International developer	Country 	Investment<br />
(US $ million)<br />
Emmar properties	Dubai	500<br />
Ascendas	Singapore	350<br />
Salem &amp; ciputra group	Indonesia 	350<br />
GE commercial finance	U.S	63<br />
Tishman Speyer Properties	U.S	300</p>
<p>Simultaneously many Indian retailers are entering into international markets through significant investments in foreign markets.</p>
<p>Embassy group has signed a deal with Serbian government to construct US $ 600 million IT park in Serbia.<br />
Parsvanath developers is doing a project in Al &#8211; Hasan group in Oman<br />
Puravankara developers are associated with project in Srilanka- a high end residential complex, comprising 100 villas.<br />
Ansals API tied up with Malaysia&#8217;s UEM group to form a joint venture company, Ansal-API UEM contracts pvt ltd, which plans to bid for government contracts in Malaysia.<br />
Kolkata&#8217;s south city project is working on two projects in Dubai.<br />
On the eve of liberalization as India opens up market to foreign players there is tend to be competitive edge to give quality based performance for costumer satisfaction which will consequently bring in quality technology and transparency in the sector and ultimate winners are buyers of this situation.</p>
<p>However this never ending growth phase of reality sector has been hard hit by the global scenario from the beginning of 2008. Analyst say situation will prevail in near future, and latest buzz for the sector comes as a &#8220;slowdown&#8221;.</p>
<p>Sliding phase of the reality sector</p>
<p>In this present scenario of global slowdown, where stock markets are plunging, interest rates and prices are mounting, the aftermath of this can now also be felt on Indian real estate sector. Overall slowdown in demand can be witnessed all across India which is causing trouble for the major industry players. Correcting property prices and rentals are eroding away the market capitalization of many listed companies like dlf and unitech.</p>
<p>Fundaments behind slowdown&#8230;</p>
<p>Propetry prices move because of the basic principle of demand and supply<br />
when demand is high and supply low prices will go up<br />
When demand is low and supply high prices will go down.</p>
<p>For example let&#8217;s assume that somebody has bought a property for Rs X and he is trying to sell the property (say after a year), there can be three options, assumption being that the owner is in need of money and cannot wait for more than 3 months to sell the property.</p>
<p>1.	When the property prices are gliding everywhere : now owner will try to add as much premium to the property as possible, in order to book profits, therefore he will wait for 3 months and sell off in last month at the highest bid. Where he ill get total of Rs X + Rs Y.<br />
2.	When property prices have stabilized: here owner will not be able to sell at premium and book profits due to market stabilization &amp; since he don&#8217;t want to sell at a loss, he will try to get same amount he brought the property for. Where he&#8217;ll get total of Rs X = Rs Y<br />
3.	when property prices are going down : owner will try to sell the property at least profit or least cost. Therefore he ill get Rs X-RsY.</p>
<p>Reality deals in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad have shown enormous downfall from October 2007 &#8211; March 2008. The downfall had been cushioned by fall in stock markets as it put a stop for wealth creation, which leads to shortage of capital among investors to invest in real estate activities. Apart from this in order to offset their share losses many investors have no choice, but sell their real estate properties.</p>
<p>Other factors which have contributed to this slowdown are raising interest rates leading to higher costs. Due to this almost all the developers are facing serious liquidity crunch and facing difficulties in completing their ongoing projects. Situation seems to be so disastrous that most of the companies have reported 50-70% cash shortfall. The grade A developers which are facing cash crunch include DLF,MGF, Emmar, Shobha developers, Unitech, Omaxe, Parsvnath Developers, Hiranandani Group, Ansal API, BPTP Developers and TDI Group. As a outcome of this liquidity crunch many developers have started slowing down or even stopped construction of projects which are either in their initial stages of development or which would not effect their bottom line in near future.</p>
<p>Also with increasing input costs of steel iron and building material it has become it has become inviable for builders to construct properties at agreed prices. As a result there may be delays in completion of the project leading finical constraints.</p>
<p>At the same time IT industry which accounts for 70% of the total commercial is facing a slowdown. Many residential buyers are waiting for price correction before buying any property, which can effect development plans of the builder.</p>
<p>Aftermath of reality shock to other sectors</p>
<p>Cement industry hit by reality slowdown</p>
<p>The turbulence in the real estate sectors is passing on pains in cement industry also. It is being projected that growth rate of cement industry will drop down to 10% in current fiscal. The reasons behind such a contingency are higher input costs, low market valuations and scaled up capacity which are in turn leading to reduced demand in the industry. High inflation and mounting home loan rates have slowed down the growth flight of real estate sector which accounts for 60% of the total cement demand. The major expansion plans announced by major industries will further add to their misery as low market demand will significantly reduced their capacity utilization.<br />
Setting up new facilities will impart additional capacities of 34 million tone and 45 million tone respectively in 2008-09 &amp; 2009-10. This is likely to bring down capacity utilization in the industry down from current 101% to 82%. Even as it loses power to dictate prices, increased cost of power, fuel and freight will add pressure on input costs.</p>
<p>Ambuja Cements too is trading at a higher discount than previous down cycle, suggesting bottom valuations. However, replacement valuations for Madras Cements and India Cements indicate scope for further downslide when compared to their previous down cycle valuations.<br />
All this has added to stagnation of the cement industry.</p>
<p>Dying reality advertising</p>
<p>The heat of reality ebb is also being felt by the advertising industry. It is being estimated that all major developers such as DLF, omaxe, ansals &amp; parsvnath have decided to cut down on their advertising budget by around 5%. The advertising industry in India is estimated to be around 10,000 crore. This trend can be witnessed due to weakening spirits of potential buyers and real estate companies call it a reality check on their advertising budgets. A report from Adex India, a division of TAM Media Research, shows that the share of real estate advertisements in print media saw a drop of 2 percent during 2007 compared to 2006. According to Adex, the share of real estate advertisement in overall print and TV advertising last year was 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively. It&#8217;s a known fact that infrastructure and real estate companies are responsible for advertising industry maintaing double didgit growth rate. Therefore its understood that a recent slowdown in iindian reality sector has made things worse for advertising industry. The Adex report indicates that the top 10 advertisers shared an aggregate of 16 percent of overall ad volumes of real estate advertising in print during 2007. The list include names such as DLF Group, Parsvnath, Sahara, HDIL and Omaxe group. However, the real estate had maximum share in South India publications followed by North and West publications with 32% and 26% share, respectively, during 2007.</p>
<p>According to many advertising agencies consultants, this phenomenon is taking a toll as all real estate companies want a national foot print and also these companies are turning into professionals. Therefore they are setting standards when it comes to advertising to sales ratio.</p>
<p>Falling stock markets knock down reality stocks</p>
<p>Reality stocks have been hard hit by uncertainties prevailing in the stock market. The BSE reality index is the worst performer having shed 51% of its 52-week peak reached in reality. The BSE benchmark index has shed 24% since January. The country&#8217;s largest real estate firm DLF scrip lost 54% while unitech lost 64% from its peak. The scrips of Delhi bases parsvnath and omaxe have lost 68% each since January.</p>
<p>The sector is facing a major downfall in sales volume in most markets of the country. The speculators have exit the market and Mumbai and NCR, the biggest real estate markets in markets are cladding subdued sales. In Gurgaon and Noida, which had seen prices almost treble in four years, sales are down 70%, leading to a price correction of 10-20%.<br />
Lets us have a look how major cities are affected by reality downfall.</p>
<p>Top 4 metros taking the lead &#8211; in slowdown</p>
<p><strong>Delhi &amp;NCR</strong></p>
<p>While bears are ruling the stock market, the real estate sector in Delhi &amp; NCR region has started facing departure of speculative investors from the market. According to these developers based in region the selling of flats has become very complicated at the launch stage due to lack of interest from the speculators. Developers attribute this to stability in prices against the past where prices were up surging on monthly basis. The scenario has changed so much in the present year that developers are now facing difficulty in booking flats which may delay their projects and reduce their pricing power for instance a year ago, if 100 flats were being sold in month at launch stage now it has come down 30-40 per month. Till mid 2007 speculators made quick money by booking multiple flats at launch of the project and exiting within few weeks or months. But now due to the stabilization of the property prices little scope is left for speculators to make money in short term. Therefore outcome is their retreat from the sector.</p>
<p><strong>Mumbai</strong></p>
<p>Mumbai real estate market, which witnessed huge increase in prices in recent years, which made the city to enter in the league of world&#8217;s most expensive cities, is now feeling the heat of slowdown. Property sales that have been growing at a clank of around 20% every year have been plumped by 17% in 2007-08.</p>
<p>Though slowdown news of property market in country&#8217;s financial capital has been much talked about, but it was first time that figures proved the extent of slowdown. Information about residential and commercial property sales from the stamp duty registration office show almost 12,000 fewer transactions during the last financial year compared to the year before. From April 2007 to March 2008, 62,595 flats were purchased in Mumbai as against 74,555 in 2006-07.<br />
According to reality analyst sales volume can die out further in south as developers persist on holding to their steep prices and buyers anticipate a further fall with current rates beyond reach. They further add that market is on a corrective mode and downward trend is anticipated for another 12 months.</p>
<p>Between 1992-96, the market ran up the same way it did during 2003-07. Post-&#8217;96, the volumes dropped by 50%. This time again it is expected to drop substantially though not so steeply. The demand is now extremely sluggish and customers do not want to stick out their necks and transact at prevailing rates.Chennai in past few years we witnessed reality index gaining huge heights on BSE and it also impact could be felt allover India. Amongst them Chennai was no exception. With IT boom in past few years and pumping of money by NRI&#8217;s have led to prices touching skies. Chennai also witnessed a huge boom property prices over the last few years. However in past few months it has been facing slowdown in growth rate.</p>
<p>Following factors can be attributed to this:<br />
This is one of the common factor prevailing all over India- rise in home loan interest rates, which has made it extremely difficult for a normal salaried person to be able to afford a house.<br />
Depreciation of US dollar, which means NRI&#8217;s who were earlier pumping money into the real estate are now able to get less number of rupees per dollar they earn in US. Therefore many of them have altered their plans for buying house in India.<br />
The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has imposed stricter norms for apartment construction and penalties for violations are more severe than before.<br />
Failure of the legal system of chennai to prevent intrusion, forged documents and illegal construction has added to the problem as many NRI&#8217;S are hesitating to buy plots in chennai.<br />
Apart from this tsunami of 2004 has shaken the confidence of many investors to invest in real estate.</p>
<p>However many analyst are quite bullish about this region. Especially in areas like old mahabalipuram, south Chennai etc because of numerous IT/ITES/ electronics/automobile companies are expected to set up their centers in these areas. Once these projects are complete and companies begin operations their, many people would like to live near to such areas and outcome will be boom in residential sector.</p>
<p>Bangalore</p>
<p>As discussed for above cities Bangalore is also dwindling between the similar scenarios. Bangalore seems to be in midst of low demand and supply. This trend is due to myopic developers, due to sudden growth in Bangalore in last few years, lot of builders have caught the opportunity of building residential houses thinking their will be lot of employment, increase in salaries and hence demand for housing. Past few years have been jovial for Bangalore as IT industry was doing well and banking and retail sectors were expanding.</p>
<p>However with this sudden economic slowdown, due to which Indian stocks markets are trembling, interest rates are high, jobs and recruitment put on freeze have led to cessation of investment in local property markets.</p>
<p>According to the developers real-estate industry of Bangalore has experienced a drop of about 15- 20% in transaction volumes. Adding to it grade A developers have faced a dropdown of 50% on monthly levels of booking compared to what they enjoyed in December 2007.</p>
<p>Future outlook</p>
<p>The real estate explosion in Indian real estate is due to by the burgeoning IT and BPO industries. The underlying reason for all these moves is that the Indian real estate is tremendously attractive, because of basic demographics and a supply shortage. Truly Indian real estate is having a dream run for last five years.</p>
<p>However in the current scenario Indian real estate market is going through a phase of correction in prices and there are exaggerated possibilities that these increased prices are likely to come down.<br />
In this scenario hat will be the future course of this sector?</p>
<p>Many analyst are of view that tightening of India&#8217;s monetary policy, falling demand and growing liquidity concerns could have negative impact on profiles of real estate companies. Slowing down would also aid in the process of exit of some of the weaker entities from the market and increasing the strength of some of the established developers. A prolonged slowdown could also reduce the appetite of private equity.</p>
<p>Its also been projected that large development plans and aggressive land purchases have led to a considerable increase in the financial leverage (debt/EBITDA) of most developers, with the smaller players now being exposed to liquidity pressures for project execution as well as a general slowdown in property sales. Property developers hit by falling sales and liquidity issues would need to reduce list prices to enhance demand, but many still seem to be holding on to the asking price &#8211; which, would delay the process of recovering demand and increase the risk of liquidity pressures.<br />
It was being witnessed that before the slowdown phase the projects were being sold without any hook at an extravagant rate. But at present negative impact is highly visible as lot of high end projects are still lying unsold. In such a scenario, there may be blessing in disguise as high profile speculators will be out making way for the actual users.</p>
<p>But here also sector faces trouble as correction in prices has been accompanied by increase in home loan rates by the banks which have led to erosion of purchasing power of middle and upper middle class majority of whom are covered in the category of end users or actual users.<br />
Therefore for future of real estate sector analyst call for a wait and watch method to grab the best opportunity with the hope of reduction in loan rates.</p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Manish_Marwah">Manish Marwah</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Real-Estate-Sector&amp;id=1631320">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
Provided by: <a href="http://wealthynetizen.com/wordpress-plugin-guest-blogger/">Guest blogger</a></p>
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		<title>No Load Mutual Funds: Investment Hype vs. Investment Help</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/05/29/no-load-mutual-funds-investment-hype-vs-investment-help/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 30 May 2010 00:17:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ulli G. Niemann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[mutual fund]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[With the internet such a huge part of our daily lives, many investors have access to a wide range of instant investment information. Whether youre into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures or option...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With the internet such a huge part of our daily lives, many investors have access to a wide range of instant investment information.</p>
<p>Whether youre into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures or options, there are tons of electronic investment newsletters offering to turn your small stake into a giant fortune. All you need to do is subscribe and watch your portfolio soar.</p>
<p>Yeah, right!</p>
<p>As a practicing investment advisor specializing in no load mutual funds, I have received my share of e-mails from disillusioned subscribers wanting to know how to better evaluate newsletter services.</p>
<p>While there are no absolutes, I can give you a few pointers that might help you make a better decision:</p>
<p>1. Stay away from the most obvious hype. Ads promising to turn your $10,000 into $1 million in 2 years by buying this incredible stock or hot commodity are not promoting investing  they are selling gambling. Follow the &#8220;If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is&#8221; rule.</p>
<p>2. Most mutual fund newsletters wont make those outlandish claims, but some of them are still pushing the truth as far as they can. So try to get a free issue or two to examine. If you can&#8217;t get a sample, check if they have a trial period? How about a money back guarantee? If not, pay with your credit card. These days youre pretty well protected by this payment method even if the newsletter doesn&#8217;t offer a satisfaction guarantee.</p>
<p>3. Consider the editor as well as the disclaimer notes. Is he or she only publishing a newsletter? Or is he also an investment advisor with a practice?</p>
<p>Why would that last point matter? I may be biased, but I believe that you get far better advice from a writer who also is in the trenches every day investing their own as well as their clients portfolios. They would have far better insights as to what works and what doesnt than someone who has the theory down but no practical experience.</p>
<p>4. Look at the investment recommendations. Are they suggesting you buy into a certain orientation such as mid cap, small cap or large value? Or are they picking specific investments based on a variety of technical indicators?</p>
<p>In my no-load mutual fund practice I use specific recommendations, even for my free newsletter subscribers. They are first based on my trend tracking indicator giving us the green light and secondarily on the selection of mutual funds based on momentum analysis.</p>
<p>The more specific the recommendations, the better, because that allows you to follow along either just on paper (which you should do at first) or with your actual portfolio.</p>
<p>5. Are they recommending when to sell a mutual fund either because of gains or to limit your losses? This to me is the most important issue. If there is no plan in place for getting out, how will you ever know when to sell? This has been the greatest downfall of most publishers (and investors!) since the bear market of 2000  not selling even if market conditions dictate it would be in your best interest to do so.</p>
<p>The advice of most newsletter services can make you money in bull markets. However, with the continuation of the bear market still a distinct possibility; be sure to look at any newsletter&#8217;s investment advice record since 2000.</p>
<p>For many people investing is an emotional issue. The pendulum swings between fear of loss and greed for greater returns. If a complete methodology for buying and selling is offered in a newsletter, such as one I advocate, be sure that it fits your emotional make up.</p>
<p>There is no sense in following an investment approach, which may have merits, if it means sleepless nights for you. You wont stick with it for the long term  and long-term investing is essential for making your portfolio grow and prosper.</p>
<p>So, the bottom line is to look for a newsletter that:</p>
<ul>
<li>does not promise the moon,</li>
<li>has a track record through up and down markets, and</li>
<li>recommends an approach that not only is compatible for your investment style but also has an exit strategy so you can capitalize on your gains &#8212; in the bank, not only on paper.</li>
</ul>
<p>Following these guidelines may not make you rich, but it will help you avoid some bad advice.</p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ulli_G._Niemann">Ulli G. Niemann</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?No-Load-Mutual-Funds:-Investment-Hype-vs.-Investment-Help&amp;id=15128">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
Provided by: <a href="http://betterdollar.com/duty-tax/excise-tax-sin-taxes-or-luxury-taxes/">Excise Tax</a></p>
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		<title>Have An Idea? Starting A Business? STOP! Read This Article</title>
		<link>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/05/22/have-an-idea-starting-a-business-stop-read-this-article/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blackswanmanagementllc.com/2010/05/22/have-an-idea-starting-a-business-stop-read-this-article/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 May 2010 00:14:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Hart</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[If you create a new product or service, you will have to spend time "educating people" about your offer before you can sell it. That's twice the work.  Do something they are already familiar with. That way you can spend your time selling rather then educating and selling.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As a business consultant I am asked a lot of questions about success, especially from younger clients from age 25 35 who are loaded with ideas and the youthful enthusiasm but lack experience. My answers are usually the same each timeyou have to have a good idea, a written plan backing that idea and enough business knowledge to deal with the issues surrounding start-up launch and rollout. And thats where things get a little shaky for most people.  They have the ideas.  They have the enthusiasm. But they dont have a realistic written plan (if they even have a plan) and they lack true knowledge and experience.</p>
<p>Most people starting in business have never written a business plan and/or dont have enough business acumen to write one correctly. Specifically, they lack real world business education and experience.  These same entrepreneurial-types virtually always over estimate sales and under estimate costs.  They dont have a firm grip on management, marketing, advertising, human resources and accounting, law or finance.  They have a lot to learn and will waste time and money on costly mistakes to gain hard learned and expensive lessons.</p>
<p>And the complexity of an idea kills many projects before they get off the ground.  I have heard every business opportunity under the sun for manufacturing, distribution, retail sales, borderline scams and on and on and on and my conclusion is this:</p>
<p>KISSkeep it simple stupid.  Keep you start up costs low and human resource requirements at a minimum.  The more intellectual your product or service, the more involved you will be in the day to day grind of work product output.  You want to be able to clone yourself.  You want your business to be so simple a monkey could do it.  Let me give a quick example: Lets say you want to set up a mortgage company. In this case, you have to know a lot about a lot and your staff will have to know a lot about a lot and these educated people are going to want a nice big fat juicy payroll.  Whereas, a business like an oil change company hires people with little or no education to simply drain car oila monkey could do it!  The result is a number of successful business franchises. Simple process, low paid employees.</p>
<p>Then I tell people, before you run off and look for your big success with a new idea stop and think about how you can make money doing something simple, something you can clone, something with low start up costs, something you can test quickly and easily.  Something like; washing residential and commercial windows. Why window washing?  Whats your up front start up costs? All you need to get started is a bucket, a squeegee and some cleaning fluid! Then, go sell.  If you were the company washing all the commercial windows between Chicago and Detroit you would be a millionaire.  And a monkey can do it.</p>
<p>The problem here is, like every business, making the sale.  But remember something; if you create a new product or service, you will have to spend time educating people about your offer before you can sell it. Thats twice the work.  Do something they are already familiar with&#8211;that way you can spend your time selling rather then educating and selling. Something like washing windows. I dont care what your business or idea may be; if you cant sell it, the project will fail.</p>
<p>This is why you need a plan. Do you want some free business coaching?  Here it is, and it wont cost you a dime.  Click the link belowget the Business Planning Ebook, its the best planning tool you will EVER find.  I use it all the time. Thanks for reading and good luck!</p>
<p>We have a number of Free EBooks you can download at our site that is related to this article. Our site does not hyper-advertise at you to sell product. Our EBooks are high quality, powerful and worth your time.</p>
<p>Click the link below, go to the freebie section to get your Ebooks. This offer is an Ezine Article exclusive.</p>
<p>Copyright  2006<br />
James W. Hart, IV<br />
All Rights reserved</p>
<p>Author: <a href="http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Hart">Jim Hart</a><br />
Article Source: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Have-An-Idea?-Starting-A-Business?-STOP!-Read-This-Article&amp;id=174799">EzineArticles.com</a><br />
Provided by: <a href="http://betterdollar.com/duty-tax/duty/">Canada duty</a></p>
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